Digital Self-Harm and Suicidality Among Adolescents post thumbnail

Digital Self-Harm and Suicidality Among Adolescents

Background Research on digital self-harm – the anonymous online posting, sending, or otherwise sharing of hurtful content about oneself – is still in its infancy. Yet unexplored is whether digital self-harm is related to suicidal ideation or suicide attempts. Methods In the current study, survey data were collected in 2019 from a national sample of […]

Digital Self-Harm and Suicidality among Middle and High School Students post thumbnail

Digital Self-Harm and Suicidality among Middle and High School Students

Sameer and I have been interested in digital self-harm for almost a decade now. We first became aware of it when we learned of the suicide of Hannah Smith, a 14-year-old girl from England who ended her own life after being mistreated online. It was ultimately determined that many of the hurtful comments directed to […]

Connecting Adolescent Suicide to the Severity of Bullying and Cyberbullying post thumbnail

Connecting Adolescent Suicide to the Severity of Bullying and Cyberbullying

While previous studies have identified that school bullying and cyberbullying victimization among adolescents is associated with suicidal thoughts and attempts, no work has measured the severity of bullying incidents and their impact on the youth at school within that context. As such, a survey was distributed to a representative sample of U.S. youth between the […]

Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide Among US Youth: Our Updated Research Findings post thumbnail

Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Suicide Among US Youth: Our Updated Research Findings

There continues to be a lot of discussion involving bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide both in the media as well as in social circles of parents, educators, and other youth professionals. I just looked up “suicide and bullying” on Google News and in just this past weekend alone there are multiple stories involving different kids in […]

More on the Link between Bullying and Suicide post thumbnail

More on the Link between Bullying and Suicide

Last week I received an email from Martin Cocker, a friend and colleague who runs the Netsafe organization in New Zealand. Netsafe is a one-stop shop for all things related to online safety. If you are a New Zealander who is being mistreated online, or work with someone who is, Netsafe can help. Last year […]

Not Guilty? Implications for the Teens Charged with Bullying Rebecca Sedwick post thumbnail

Not Guilty? Implications for the Teens Charged with Bullying Rebecca Sedwick

Felony stalking charges have now been dropped for the two girls (one 14 years-old, the other now 13 years-old) who last month were implicated in the suicide of 12 year-old Rebecca Sedwick. They were alleged to have bullied Rebecca at school and online, including messages calling for Rebecca to end her life, such as “Drink […]

NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook – October 18, 2013 post thumbnail

NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook – October 18, 2013

Dr. Patchin joins Tom Ashbrook for a discussion of the Rebecca Sedwick suicide and resulting felony charges leveled against two of those who allegedly bullied her. Also featured in the program are Jerriann Sullivan (Orlando Sentinel), Sheriff Grady Judd (Polk County, FL sheriff), and Sue Shellenbarger (The Wall Street Journal). October 18, 2013 Click here […]

Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Involved in Rebecca Sedwick Suicide post thumbnail

Criminal Charges Filed Against Two Involved in Rebecca Sedwick Suicide

Two girls (a 14 year-old and a 12 year-old) have now been arrested and charged with felony aggravated stalking for their involvement in the bullying of 12 year-old Rebecca Ann Sedwick. Rebecca jumped to her death on September 9th after enduring months of bullying, online and off, from as many as 15 classmates at Crystal […]

Does Bullying “Cause” Suicide? post thumbnail

Does Bullying “Cause” Suicide?

The title of Deborah Temkin’s recent Huffington Post article is a simple request: “Stop saying bullying causes suicide.” Her plea is understandable and justified. Sameer and I also cringe when we read the ubiquitous headlines espousing the conventional wisdom proclaiming that “bullying causes suicide.” But what does the research actually say about the nature of this […]

Hannah Smith: Even More Tragic Than Originally Thought post thumbnail

Hannah Smith: Even More Tragic Than Originally Thought

Many are now familiar with the tragic case of Hannah Smith, the 14-year-old from Leicestershire, England, who hanged herself on August 2nd after reportedly being harassed online for months. Cruel messages received principally on the social media site Ask.fm are being cited by her father and others as a primary cause of the suicide, though […]